House Votes to Prohibit DOJ From Interfering With State Medical Marijuana or Industrial Hemp Program

After a long debate that had the US House of Representatives in session until after midnight, the lower chamber of Congress cast a historic 219 to 189 vote to restrict the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration from using taxpayer funds to interfere in state-sanctioned medical marijuana programs.

170 Democrats and 49 Republicans voted in favor of the amendment, 172 Republicans and 17 Democrats voted against it.

“It would be hard to overstate the importance of tonight’s vote,” said NORML Communications Director Erik Altieri, “Approval of this amendment is a resounding victory for basic compassion and common sense.”

The House also approved amendments that prohibit the DOJ and DEA from using funds to interfere with state sanctioned industrial hemp cultivation.

These amendments were made to the 2015 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill, which now must be approved by the Senate and then signed by President Obama.

Federal legalization for MMJ? Where's the info for that--or are you simply referring to the call to Obama to declassify cannabis as a harmful substance? I'm hoping the Senate passes this coming bill. I'm also hoping that CA will be able to get a full legalization bill by 2016. It's a shame they didn't get funding to put it on the bill this year. Sigh.

Obama needs to get rid of DEA chief Michele Leonhart she always spouting off how horrible and dangerous cannabis is. She is really blocking efforts for the Feds to decriminalize cannabis.
Maybe Eric Holder will have the clout and the balls to reschedule cannabis, so it's not included with true dangerous drugs such as heroin and meth.

I'm hoping the Senate passes this coming bill. I'm also hoping that CA will be able to get a full legalization bill by 2016. It's a shame they didn't get funding to put it on the bill this year. Sigh.

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@shogem
I read the reason it was not on the ballot in CA thins year is because it is a mid term election and has much lower turnout than the 2016 election will. That is one of the reasons they think it did not pass last time.

As the chancellor of a university targeted by one such raid in 2012, I can only wish this were true.

The reality, unfortunately, is that while the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment is an important victory, its limited scope means that the federal government's campaign against patients and state-legal businesses has not yet been halted. As one law professor explains, the bipartisan amendment (which still must be passed by the Senate and signed by the president before going into effect) would end funding for the Justice Department to target state governments which implement medical cannabis regulations, but contains no language explicitly protecting patients, their caregivers, or dispensaries. So this amendment, while a courageous and necessary piece of legislation, would not go so far to protect patients as you may have heard.

This is why it is so important to keep the pressure up, now more than ever. Congress' vote last week was indeed historic; it was the first time since the beginning of the drug war that that body cast an affirmative vote for needed cannabis reform. If we, the activist community, can successfully build on this watershed victory to pass even more courageous legislation, then the rumors of false hope now circling the web can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Urging your representatives to bring back the “Respect States' and Citizens' Rights Act,” which actually would immunize sick patients from the interference of their federal government, would be a great place to start.

So I hope you join me in the spirit of both celebration for a real victory and resolve to agitate for more. Congress proved last week that it was willing to pass modest cannabis reform; let us take the opportunity to move from the quicksand presently under our feet to rock-solid protections patients can count on, for years to come.

So as it was explained to me, the federal government can regulate interstate commerce and that is why there is a law outlawing marijuana, but the states hold reserve power and the constitution states nothing on drugs, so selling California grown weed to a California patient is legal.

That's where I think the murky-ness comes from and possibly where the confusion lay in early dispensary raids.

I can't imagine that they would abuse power they were never meant to hold by raiding dispensaries at first.

Well on second thought, maybe I can.

Weed is an issue that's not just relevant to stoners, it's an issue that should be used to reinforce the position of state powers.

Neither Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski nor Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate spending committee, have been approached about attaching a similar provision to their version of the bill, and Mr. Shelby has signaled he opposes the idea.

Marijuana j=has successfully passed in the Senate. But, a lot of people aren't happy with President Obama's not living up to his promises about medical marijuana. I suppose, there are reasons for his administration cracking down. Billions of them, in fact

.....it's all posturing...as they go back to their offices and count the cash they receive from....the phamaceutical indus..various police/d.a. agencies and cop groups all with highly vested interests in keeping the status as quo as possible...
...the folks who walk into these peoples offices with the wads of cash get everything they want...